Investigators reach site of plane crash where BYU-Idaho student died
WATCH: International student finds joy in piano performance major
December 2, 2019
From Morton to Rexburg: A move to the “big city”
December 2, 2019
On Monday, investigators with the National Transportation Saftey Board reached the site of a plane crash that killed a BYU-Idaho student and eight of his family members this weekend.
Stockton Hansen, a BYU-Idaho student, died in the crash of the Pilatus PC-12. The family was returning to Idaho Falls after their annual pheasant hunting trip.
According to an NTSB news release, investigators reached the crash site Monday and released new details.
“Over the coming days, they will work on documenting the airplane and wreckage pattern, examining its systems, flight controls, and engine,” according to the news release. “In addition, any witnesses to the crash will be interviewed. Interviews with the surviving passengers will also be requested.”
As reported by the NTSB, the crash happened around 12:30 p.m. CST shortly after the aircraft took off from Chamberlain Municipal Airport. Of the twelve people on the plane, only three survived with injuries.
The single-engine airplane landed in Chamberlain on Friday at around 9:30 a.m. where the pilot purchased 150 gallons of Jet A fuel before leaving the airplane parked at the airport. The NTSB has not released the name of the pilot.
Before taking off, the pilot filed a flight plan with the Federal Aviation Administration to take off from the airport with a planned departure of 12:20 p.m. The news release reports the plane took off from runway 31 around 12:26 p.m. and when the flight plan wasn’t activated after departing, the FAA issued an alert.
It remains unclear who initially discovered the crash site, but investigators say the site is about one mile from the end of the runway.
At the time of the crash, an automated weather observation station at the airport recorded north/northeast winds at 7 mph, half-mile visibility with moderate snow and icing. The system recorded the base cloud layer at 500 feet above the ground.
Unlike commercial aircraft, the Pilatus PC-12 isn’t required to have a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder. The airplane did have an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system to record the airplane’s performance. Data in the system includes flight track, altitude and speed.
The NTSB expects to publish a preliminary report of the crash in about two weeks and the full report to take anywhere from one to two years.
